Underground Gas Pipes In Mangga Besar Street Caught Fire Again

Fire erupts from underground gas pipeline in Mangga Besar, West Jakarta/Photo: IST

JAKARTA - The underground gas pipeline on Jalan Mangga Besar No. 137, Karang Anyar Village, Sawah Besar District, Central Jakarta is on fire again. It is suspected that the fire was caused by a leak in the gas pipeline.

Head of the Central Jakarta Fire and Rescue (Gulkarmat) Sub-dept., Asril Rizal, confirmed that an underground gas pipe had caught fire. The fire was extinguished at around 9:30 pm.

"We managed to control it for 15 minutes, the fire did not spread to other places," said Asril when contacted by reporters, Wednesday, January 12, evening.

There were 30 personnel and 6 fire engines deployed to extinguish the fire. So far, the exact cause of the fire from the gas pipeline is unknown.

"We don't know for sure the exact cause of this incident, there were no victims," he said.

After being extinguished, the fire re-ignited at 22:40 western Indonesia time. Seeing the fire that flared up again, local residents and passersby looked panicked.

The Acting (Plt) of Karang Anyar Village Head, Lingga said, the gas pipe caught fire again after the firefighters had left the scene.

"The fire department has gone, not long ago the fire appeared again," he said when confirmed.

Lingga explained that the gas pipeline was known to belong to the State Gas Company (PGN). When PGN officers were about to carry out an inspection, the fire was extinguished for a moment, then the fire rekindled.

"It was extinguished, then the officers wanted to check, and not long ago the fire was back on," he explained.

Lingga confirmed that the fire that came out of PGN's gas pipe was due to a leak from the gas pipe. And now the fire has been successfully extinguished by Fire Fighting and Rescue (Gulkarmat) officers.

"This second fire, the fire was successfully controlled by the officers after 30 minutes. Currently, the officers are already at the location and have been given a police line," he said.